Post-car accident etiquette 101 - PA edition
June 3, 2013 7:58 PM Subscribe
Rear ended a car on a slick road today. Called police to get a report filed. Now what?
Both me and the other driver were calm about it and agreed to call the police to have the accident on record. She mentioned her neck hurting a little so I'm worried about a personal injury claim. I'm also worried about insurance rate going up.
Another thing I realized in the aftermath is that while I have her insurance info (we took pics on our phones), I don't have a phone number to call her and ask if she wants to make an insurance claim. What can I do? Is there anything I should know about car accidents in my state?
Both me and the other driver were calm about it and agreed to call the police to have the accident on record. She mentioned her neck hurting a little so I'm worried about a personal injury claim. I'm also worried about insurance rate going up.
Another thing I realized in the aftermath is that while I have her insurance info (we took pics on our phones), I don't have a phone number to call her and ask if she wants to make an insurance claim. What can I do? Is there anything I should know about car accidents in my state?
This is crazy, this almost pretty much happened exactly to me today (I hit a car on a rain slicked road and took a pic of the insurance info but didn't get any other info). I immediately called the insurance company, they told me to file a police report. This is SC. Your mileage my vary.
posted by sandmanwv at 8:07 PM on June 3, 2013
posted by sandmanwv at 8:07 PM on June 3, 2013
empath is right- your insurance will know what to do. It's just as well you don't have the number of the other person because you shouldn't talk to her directly. It's natural to feel sympathy but think of it like a court case- anything you say could end up being used against you.
posted by drjimmy11 at 8:31 PM on June 3, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by drjimmy11 at 8:31 PM on June 3, 2013 [2 favorites]
Yes, do not contact the other party or talk to them. It is up to the insurance companies now.
posted by buzzieandzaza at 8:41 PM on June 3, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by buzzieandzaza at 8:41 PM on June 3, 2013 [1 favorite]
I used to work on the insurance end of this for some years, so I can tell you exactly what should/will happen.
Definitely contact your insurance company. In your contract with them, you agree to contact them if you are in an accident. You'll simply be following through on your end of the deal. You don't want them to think that you didn't report a serious claim.
They will settle with the other party for both auto material damage and also for her injury (or "injury"), depending on how much she's really injured or playing it up. Your insurance company will attempt to settle by offering to pay for her medical checkup and ongoing bills, and a little bit for pain and suffering. If they suspect there's any faking going on, they may offer her, say, $250 for the inconvenience and sore neck. It's good if she takes it, because the claim is settled when she cashes the check. If she really is injured, though, they will offer to let her seek treatment, and then pay for her bills and something for the pain/inconvenience (which is appropriate) after everything is done.
If you have collision insurance, your insurance will also take care of your damages, less your deductible. If you were injured, you can cover it via your medical converage (asusming it's on your policy).
There isn't anything you can do to not take the blame for this one, as rear-end accidents are almost always determined to be 100% the fault of the person who hits the other person from the rear, especially when weather conditions are to blame. Perhaps a rare exception to this exists, but I did not see it in all the years I processed claims. However, this does not mean that your insurance will automatically go up. Part of it has to do with the amount of exposure that comes form this (i.e., how much does it cost to settle all of the open elements of the claim), and whether you have any other accidents on your policy. If it's your first one and it doesn't cost much, this does not necessarily mean that your insurance will go up. However, I didn't work on this end during my time processing claims (this is a while other part of the company), so I can't tell you exactly how it works. I do know that I've been in accidents where my company has paid for damages, and it hasn't affected my rates. This end is sort of mysterious and worked out with actuarial voodoo.
If you've filed the police report and contacted your own insurance company, you are under no obligation to contact her again, nor her insurance company. You've done your civic duty. I hope this helps a bit.
posted by SpacemanStix at 9:34 PM on June 3, 2013 [4 favorites]
Definitely contact your insurance company. In your contract with them, you agree to contact them if you are in an accident. You'll simply be following through on your end of the deal. You don't want them to think that you didn't report a serious claim.
They will settle with the other party for both auto material damage and also for her injury (or "injury"), depending on how much she's really injured or playing it up. Your insurance company will attempt to settle by offering to pay for her medical checkup and ongoing bills, and a little bit for pain and suffering. If they suspect there's any faking going on, they may offer her, say, $250 for the inconvenience and sore neck. It's good if she takes it, because the claim is settled when she cashes the check. If she really is injured, though, they will offer to let her seek treatment, and then pay for her bills and something for the pain/inconvenience (which is appropriate) after everything is done.
If you have collision insurance, your insurance will also take care of your damages, less your deductible. If you were injured, you can cover it via your medical converage (asusming it's on your policy).
There isn't anything you can do to not take the blame for this one, as rear-end accidents are almost always determined to be 100% the fault of the person who hits the other person from the rear, especially when weather conditions are to blame. Perhaps a rare exception to this exists, but I did not see it in all the years I processed claims. However, this does not mean that your insurance will automatically go up. Part of it has to do with the amount of exposure that comes form this (i.e., how much does it cost to settle all of the open elements of the claim), and whether you have any other accidents on your policy. If it's your first one and it doesn't cost much, this does not necessarily mean that your insurance will go up. However, I didn't work on this end during my time processing claims (this is a while other part of the company), so I can't tell you exactly how it works. I do know that I've been in accidents where my company has paid for damages, and it hasn't affected my rates. This end is sort of mysterious and worked out with actuarial voodoo.
If you've filed the police report and contacted your own insurance company, you are under no obligation to contact her again, nor her insurance company. You've done your civic duty. I hope this helps a bit.
posted by SpacemanStix at 9:34 PM on June 3, 2013 [4 favorites]
Even if you *did* have the other driver's phone number and/or email or whatever, I would still say you should NOT directly contact her. As everyone above says, contact your insurance company (handling this kind of thing is what you pay them for!), and ONLY your insurance company: not the other person, not her insurance company.
Yes, your insurance rates may go up; there's nothing you can do about that now, because it's rare that a rear-end collision is considered anything other than the rear driver's fault, sorry.
posted by easily confused at 2:35 AM on June 4, 2013 [1 favorite]
Yes, your insurance rates may go up; there's nothing you can do about that now, because it's rare that a rear-end collision is considered anything other than the rear driver's fault, sorry.
posted by easily confused at 2:35 AM on June 4, 2013 [1 favorite]
Is there a way to estimate how much your premium will go up? Maybe just knowing that will make you feel less anxious about the situation.
posted by Anima Mundi at 3:45 AM on June 4, 2013
posted by Anima Mundi at 3:45 AM on June 4, 2013
It's possible that your premium won't go up -- I don't know if it's because this sort of thing is sort of "nobody's fault" or what, but Spouse and I had a side-swipe accident during a lane-change (in PA), had a substantial repair paid for, and saw no increase (State Farm). Check the fine print; I think there are "non-qualifying accidents" that don't cause an increase (although, as I say, I'm not sure whether that's about extent of damage or fault or what), as long as you've otherwise been accident-free.
posted by acm at 7:29 AM on June 4, 2013
posted by acm at 7:29 AM on June 4, 2013
Also check your insurance policy -- my insurer at some point in the last several years added accident forgiveness to my policy because I had no accidents on my driving record. They may have notified me of the change (I don't remember), but I certainly didn't request it. In any event, what that means is that if I do have an accident now, it will NOT affect my rates. (A subsequent accident might, of course.)
So check and see if you have accident forgiveness on your policy. It might give you some peace of mind.
And call your insurer.
posted by devinemissk at 7:48 AM on June 4, 2013
So check and see if you have accident forgiveness on your policy. It might give you some peace of mind.
And call your insurer.
posted by devinemissk at 7:48 AM on June 4, 2013
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Your insurance rate will go up, but it is not the end of the world.
posted by empath at 8:03 PM on June 3, 2013 [6 favorites]